Vampire Academy: Rogue Alchemist
by AssassinsVow2012
Summary: "Love and Loyalty runs deeper than Blood..." Meet Sydney Sage. Former Alchemist since the age of 13. Obedient, Loyal, Professional are qualities of a Alchemist. Sydney Sage on the other hand; Questionable. Now a rouge Alchemist she found refuge at St. Valdimir's while in debt to look after Rose Hathaway. ( Full Summary in story)
1. Synopsis

_**"Love and Loyalty runs deeper than Blood..." **_

_**Meet Sydney Sage. Former Alchemist since the age of 13. Obedient, Loyal, Professional are qualities of a Alchemist. Sydney Sage on the other hand; Questionable. **_

_**Now a rouge Alchemist she found refuge at St. Valdimir's while in debt to look after Rose Hathaway. **_

_**You see St. Vladimir's Academy isn't just any boarding school—it's a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. **_

_**Rose Hathaway my best friend is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess as well as another friend of mine. **_

_**They've been on the run, but now are being dragged back to St. Vladimir's—the very place where we're most in danger as I've come to know... **_

_**Here I am known as Sydney Melrose, a "Dhampir" who studies and trains like every other Dhampir. **_

_**But as Rose, Lissa, and I fall into forbidden romances, restless social scenes, and unspoken night rituals there are the worst of the vampires Id agree with my former Alchemist; the Strigoi. **_

_**The most dangerous and ruthless who could claim Lissa as their own... Let the drama begin.**_


	2. Prologue

**Hey I just thought of this idea after watching Vampire Academy trailers and reading both VA/BL. Do I though "Hey how about an AU where Sydney takes part in Roses dramatic life during VA?" Since of course Sydney's one of my favorite characters besides Rose, Adrian, Lissa, Eddie, Christian, Dimitri, Mason...Etc. Ok the rest! So here's a prequel on Sydney before we get to Lissa and Roses return to the Academy! I let on user _jesspaige_ and I are hopefully collaborating the work on this story together!**

** Sydney portrayed here is different as you shall see. Enjoy and please Vote and review!**

**Disclaimer: Richelle Mead owns Vampire Academy and Bloodlines!**

_Prologue_

_Sydney's POV_

_Love and Loyalty runs deeper than blood..._

That's what we grow up believing in or find out on your own... the hard way. Yes that last bit implies toward me. I broke away from my supposed "loved" ones and the loyalty of my group known as Alchemist.

What is an Alchemist?

Five years ago I would have said as an elite member of humans charged with helping Moroi and dhampirs keeping their existence discreet.

Segregation much?

Each Alchemist bore a trademark symbol on their lower left cheek which is a golden lily. It's fused from Moroi blood, gold and the elements: earth and water. This of course gives us enchanting abilities like Moroi- well if you count never taking a trip to the doctors and extending our life hood- otherwise unfortunately you can't develop their body shape yet luckily their thirst for blood.

Of course everything comes with a price. While we are given a freebee of "invincibility" the beautiful tattoo was more of a curse. Never are we allowed to expose the supernatural to our fellow humans, or else the consequences are well ...unforgivable.

Dhampirs who are destined to become guardians for the Moroi, is exactly as the Alchemist "career" being fit for each my family there were three Alchemist: Jared my...father, me and my older sister Carly.

Actually the last bits a lie. Carly was in training to become an Alchemist more like forced into due to Jared. She didn't take it seriously but the beliefs stuck in her...

Anyway it all crumbled when that son of a bitch Keith Darnell did the unforgivable towards my sister.

See Jared always envied not having a son to pass the family name down. Shellfish bastard if you ask me, praising Satan's Spawn. He doted on Keith basically treating him as his own and gifting him places the rest of us Sage women longed for.

Oh Keith was living his precious life as if he were king, and that's when he took it overboard. Don't worry after Carly told me the night she came back I made sure he paid the price.

I wore the biggest grin that day where wee informed of Keith's mission gone wrong with a supposed "Strigoi" attack.

Carly got away so that left me to carry the duty at just the beginning if my teen years. While girls talked if makeup, or boys I was told this or that required for the Alchemist. For God sakes I knew the periodic table and five languages one of them being a dead language of Latin!

Alchemists' work connections amongst humans allowing to cover up for Moroi and dhampirs – they have "tricks and techniques" that allow them to dispose of Strigoi bodies. We are always for most to believe all vampires, even Moroi and dhampirs are evil "creatures of the night" and try to keep as distanced as possible. Obviously that was a problem to me I never saw anything problematic to an extent that we treat them like they're nothing.

I questioned a lot that was getting people suspicious and were considering to place me in "re-education." Thing of it like those mental hospitals except without the tight white wrapping. I knew at that moment I had to escape and I did. I won't tell you how...yet, I like to keep the suspense.

I got out made some contacts and was told to head to St. Valdimir's in Montana. I've been here for the last five or so years training and studying each wasn't easy at first but eventually Rose Hathaway, a Dhampir befriended me along with Lissa Dragomir, a Royal Moroi.

Last I saw then was Freshman year now it's Senior year and they are said to have returned.

Rose better give me a more straight-forward answer this time of that "sudden" departure two years back.

**Well I hope you enjoyed this I'll try to update on Fridays since my stupid laptop is a piece of junk now... sigh yea so I'm at the library typing all this. Read and Review peeps! AssassinsVow2012**


	3. Chapter 1

**Here is the next chapters my fellow readers!**

**Disclaimer: Richelle Meads Owns VA and BL!**

_Chapter 1_

_Sydney's POV_

Beep! Beep! Be-

I slam my hand literally on my blaring Alarm clock, and lie there facing the ceiling until my eyes can adjust to my surroundings. Ugh I'd kill to just lie here in bed longer... St. Valdimir's had started in session again prior two weeks ago.

Don't get me wrong I loved my classes and had an extreme thirst for knowledge and as noted by my friends and peers the "all around "encyclopedia". No better yet my nickname "Sageopedia". **(Credits to me!)**

This took time for me to even embrace this name but I've come to like it. Hey even on my bad days it'd help place a smile on my face. I finally got up and stretched before going in the bathroom to brush my teeth and contemplates on hitting the shower or just washing my face.

Taking a whiff of myself I knew my answer.

I had to give myself some credit not only could I rinse off the sweat but relieve some tension off me thanks to the warm water running from my hair and body. I tended to avoid looking at my body too much or else I started a check list of Human vs Moroi.

Sigh yes I longed and cling to develop a body of a Moroi and I know it's impossible because its their genes that gave them their slim "model-runway" forms. I could at least size up to a dhampirs though on the other hand...

Quickly breaking out of my thoughts I risen off my vanilla-mocha body wash. (I know weird combo that does exist... and a birthday gift to myself.) along with my shampoo and wrapped my fluffy yellow towel around me and headed to my dorm room again.

Oh I forgot to mention I have a dorm room I share with Rose. Yes her bed still lies there untouched and clean as its been the last two years. That's when it hit me suddenly.

Rose and Lissa were to arrive back today. I was nervous, excited and scared. I mean its been two years and a lot can happen.

I wonder how Rose and Lissa were able to handle outside Vladimir; didn't they acknowledge the risk factor of exposing themselves to humans or even worst... Getting themselves killed.

Lissa was vulnerable, she was said go be the last of her Royal family the Dragomirs.

There had been an disastrous car accident leaving Lissa and Rose-who was said to accompany them- to survive.  
Many rumors were said that the Dragomirs were targeted for a reason. Taking Lissa outside Valdimirs further chances of death, and I know Rose isn't like that not would I.

_I had awoken from my deep slumber in the late afternoon. There was a presence of a shadow rustling threw the closet and drawers taking out clothes or necessities.  
"Rose? What are you doing what's going on?" I saw her freeze and turn toe with a frantic look in her eyes._

_A look I swear you never would see on her. "I can't- can't- Sydney Im sorry. they'll take her away. Shes not safe, I need to take her away from here its too dangerous."  
"Rose, wait calm down." I reached out to hold on her shoulders. I waited until her focus was on me. "Rose, who's in danger and how can it not be safe here? Has something happen to Lissa?"_

_This suddenly got Rose back to her frantic-ready-to-run-off-mode. She jerked from me and stuffed whatever she could in her bag and walked towards me.  
She then stopped, slightly holding my hand very tight. "Syd, promise me you won't tell anyone. Don't tell them where we've gone... Lissa and I. its not safe here for her...us. I need to get here away before it escalates too far and take her away. Promise me this Syd." By now she had her nails practically digging in my hand, and shaking it._

_I knew I'd make it worst if I tried to pry her hand off mine, so I turned instead to give her my response.  
"I promise I won't tell anyone where you've gone. Ill try to make up something if I am a suspect to whatever... is going on."_

_"Thank you Sydney," Rose said and fiercely hugged me as a last goodbye. "I wish I could tell you more but something's telling me I can't because they'll know."  
She then let go of me and headed towards the door and paused, slightly angling her head towards me._

_ "Trust no. One." _

_And with that she left never to be seen again..._

Until now.

I picked out my school uniform which is the same as those regular private school outfits.

A button white collar shirt. A black business- like jacket, a solid skirt (which happen to be above knee by 2 1/2 inches), with a pair of black stockings and dress shoes.

Slipping these on, I made my way to my dresser. I thoroughly brushed through my semi-wet golden blonde hair, tied it in a ponytail and pulled it up to place those big hair clips on it.  
I didn't have much time for make-up so I just applied foundation. I checked myself out in the mirror.

Splendid.

I happen to look more like a professional business woman than a high school student. Not only that but it sure stirs great memories of my days as a Alchemist.

Note the sarcasm.

I hastily collected my text and notebooks, pen, pencils...etc. placing them all in my school bag and tossed the strap over my left shoulder.

This is basically what my schedule of the day looked like:

_1st Period Advanced Guardian Combat Techniques_

_2nd Period Bodyguard Theory and Personal Protection 3_

_3rd Period Weight Training and Conditioning_

_4th Period Senior Language Arts (Novices)_

_-Lunch -_

_5th Period Animal Behavior and Physiology_

_6th Period Advanced Calculus_

_7th Period Moroi Culture 4_

_8th Period Slavic Art_

Yep I'm a total "geek freak"and "know-it-all."

My favorite classes are 1st, and 6th-8th. I don't mind the rest of my classes but well it's nice to just let your muscles rest for some time.

I made my way through the halls ignoring anyone that gave me judgmental looks. Thankfully no one had figured out who or what I really was.

I always covered my golden lily to be extra cautious.  
So basically everyone-well being Moroi- should remain assuming I'm a Dhampir.

Only Headmistress Kirova, Guardian Petrov, and Her Majesty Queen Tatiana Ivashkov knew of my identity and full background story.** (Adrian isnt gonna make an appearance in this book yet and I'm squealing about Sydrian! :p)**

I hadn't told so much to Rose or Lissa along with a couple of my other friends. It wasn't the right time to yet.

I heard words like "lowlife", and "private blood whore". Even if I did keep to myself I did have friends; majority being Dhampirs with one Moroi that's not like the rest.

Still it doesn't mean you were that avoidable and it does tend to be the quiet mysterious one.

"Blood whore" basically was the equivalent of the human term "whore" and the synonyms that followed. They did differ in meanings thought.

A blood whore is more of a negative term used to describe a dhampir who lets Moroi drink from them during sex.

Ugh disgusting and slightly disturbing I know.

This behavior is suppose to be considered scandalous to both Moroi and dhampir alike and they are looked down upon for it.  
The whores tend to wear revealing skimpy flashy clothes and tons of make up in hopes to get a good Moroi guy.

It's sad but this tends to be common in small populated places and is gotten away with I bet most Royal Moroi/non-royal Moroi families.

I made it to first period and took out my duffle bag with my training clothes: a sports bra, a fitted white V-necked tee and slim fit yoga pants along with sneakers.

After changing I headed out to the training room where I saw my fellow Dhampirs in combat sparring with one another or with a dummy, weapon in hand.

"Melrose!" I heard someone yell my undercover last name.

I turned to see a tall, lean, slightly bulky guy with tannish skin and sandy blonde hair with blue eyes carrying equipment to set up in the gym.

Edison "Eddie" Castile. He happen to be the third person to befriend me and we bonded a really good friendship. I also happened to have developed a crush on him.

"Hey Eddie, need some help?" I asked as I approached him hands on my hips with a amused smile.

"Nah I'm good but Mason sure needs some." He jerked his head toward my other redhead freckled companion friend Mason Ashford.

Mason is the type of guy you can't help fall for. He's so sweet, playful and a big brother figure to me.

I love him simple as that.

Plus there's no denying he has a HUGE crush on Rose! Haha poor guy I mean I love Rose and all but that girl is stubborn, and reckless most of the times!

It's her nature though...

But like a coin that's been flipped, Rose has a compassionate loyal side to her that Lissa and I have seen at rare times.

"Give me that Mason," I grab the punching bag before he can protest.

"Suit yourself Sydney, and today is the day I'll manage to take you down on the mat!" He proclaimed fist in the air.

"Sure Mason we'll see about that."

When I had first started here training I was utterly clueless and nervous even after a demonstration on how to pin down you opponent I believed I didn't stand a chance.

Mason was my partner at this time and when the teacher said go I gave it all I got.

We were good Mason and I, but I noticed he's moves we in an obvious pattern that left a gap to move in and strike him down.

So when his movement occurred again I struck into that space and well pinned him down. He was baffled and wanting to know my "secret".

Honestly there isn't one its just that I was observant and calculate on when and where to strike or block.

But I'll never tell him this.

Doesn't mean he hasn't manage to take me down as well.

Unlike the Moroi, Dhampirs don't have Element abilities (eg. fire, water etc).

Instead they are born with quicker reflexes, increased strength, heightened agility, greater flexibility and great endurance. With these superhuman physical strengths they are able to train to match that of Strigoi strength and agility.

Dhampirs also heal quicker then a human but slower than a Moroi.

Prior to "Project Dragomir"; Rose, Eddie, and Mason would tease me here and there about all this but they had still given me tips and encouragement on attacks and defense that had made me close to if not more endurance of a Dhampir.

I had finished settling up the punching bag and suddenly everyone stopped at turned to the door.

There stood three figures. One of them was Guardian and Captain Alberta Petrov.

Alberta had wore her hair in a short, pixie cut that showed her promise mark and molnija marks. A lot of female guardians did this.

Speaking of which by graduation the Dhampirs were given a test they had to pass in order to receive their promise mark. Despite being human I hoped I'd be qualified as well, and it may seem so noted by Captain Alberta.

As for the hair, I for one am quite content in not doing such a thing.

I love my messy golden locks and it took time for it to grow pass my shoulders by an inch.

Next to her was what got my eyes really wide.

The guy stood approximately 6 feet tall if not more. He had tannish dark olive like skin. So I guessing he's foreign either Russian or Romanian. His dark hair was pulled in a small ponytail and he wore a duster.

Though this guy looked quite handsome for his age-I'm guessing mid-twenties- he sure was intimidating.

"Hey Mason, wipe the drool off your face. If you're going to think about me naked, do it on your own time."

I heard a familiar voice and turned to the source as multiple people snicker or laugh.

Rose Hathaway standing in the flesh with her sassy ass attitude.

"This is my time, Hathaway. I'm leading today's session." Mason retorted back after breaking from his "day dream".

"Oh yeah?" Rose retorted. "Huh. Well, I guess this is a good time to think about me naked, then."

"It's always a good a time to think about you naked," added Eddie a friend of Rose's as well way back.

I noticed the big foreign Dhampir shake his head and walked off, muttering something in Russian- as my theory had confirmed- that didn't sound so complimentary.

The class engulfed Rose, and she found herself laughing and seeing those she'd hadn't been around for do long.

Everyone wanted to know where Lissa and Rose had been, mainly me.

I could tell by her taunts and "wouldn't-you-like-to-knows"that it was a matter of importance, seriousness and protectiveness no one was to know.

"If it isn't Rose Hathaway." I said catching her attention.

She turned with her face into a full of surprise and then a huge grin.

Before batting an eye she had me tackled in a fierce some hug.

"Sydney oh god I missed you! How's Eddie and Mase treating you, need I have to kick their asses?" She remarked.

I shake my head, and laugh thinking;  
I suppose not much has changed.

The happy reunion lasted a few more minutes before an adult guardian who oversaw the training came over and scolded Mason and I, for neglecting our duties.

Still grinning, he barked out orders to everyone, explaining what exercises to start with.

I realized Rose seemed uneasy and I furrowed my eyebrows in thought and confusion. Before I could connect the dots a voice interrupted.

"Come on, Hathaway," Mason said, taking Rose's arm. "You can be my partner. Let's see what you've been doing all this time."

With that those two were gone toward the other end.

"Partners then Sydney?" Eddie happen to ask me as I turned.

"Sure why not?" I beam a smile as we head to practice toward the other end.

**Yea finally done with this chapter ugh god! Ok so last I check the reviews for VA movie when down to 7.2...:/ errrr I still hope it manages so we can get a sequel and it will hopefully improve right? Review and Comment and check out my other story ****_Royal Parties and Drama_****_Trama_****!**


	4. Chapter 2

**So I couldn't watch Vampire Academy my friend's mom doesn't like the vampire scenario stuff ( I bet she might have thought of it like Twilight). counting on our foreign viewers make the movie a success! Anyway enjoy this next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Richelle Mead owns Vampire Academy and Bloodlines!**

_Chapter 2_

_Sydney's POV_

First period ended quickly then I'd hope and right now Rose, Mason and I were currently walking towards out second period class.

I kept noticing Rose rubbing her back or arm in pain... which was kinda unnatural.

Knowing her no matter how many blows Rose would have gotten it never stopped her and mostly waved off the pain as nothing but a "simple" bruise or cut she could handle.

"Did Mason take you down that bad that your scrunching your face in discomfort and pain Rose?" I asked looking her over.

"Unfortunately thus to ruin my reputation and pride yes." She said flatly.

"You'd hate me more if I held back."Mason retorted out which I nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, that's true," She agreed, staggering along as the rest of the class put the equipment back.

"You actually did okay." Mason quipped.

"What? Oh yea because _clearly_ I didn't I just had my ass handed to me." She stated sarcastically.

I had to quickly cover my laughter that was ready to erupt.

"Well, of course you did. It's been two years. But hey, you're still walking. That's something." He grinned mockingly.

That was it, I bursted out laughing making Mason laugh as well.

"Did I mention I hate you both?"

Mason flashed her another smile, which quickly faded to something more serious.

"Don't take this the wrong way…I mean, you really are a scrapper, but there's no way you'll be able to take your trials in the spring - "

"They're making me take extra practice sessions," She cut him off to explain. "I'll be ready."

"Extra sessions with who?" Both Mason and I asked in sync.

"That tall guy. Dimitri."

So that's the intimidating guy's name...

Mason stopped walking-which got me to stumble into him-and stared at her. "You're putting in extra time with Belikov?"

"Yeah, so what?" She asked not seeing a big deal to it.

"So the man is... a god." Mason said he's voice all in awe and wonder.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. "No comparing him to God Mason."  
I said with playful scold hands on my hips but he knew I was also being serious.

On instinct then I reached out fumbling with my golden cross around my neck I'd gotten during my first mission in Morocco as an Alchemist.

"Shit sorry Sageopedia." Mason said with sincerity and of course a cheeky smile.

"Exaggerate much?" Rose asked in turn..

"No, I'm serious, Mason continued. I mean, he's all quiet and antisocial usually, but when he fights…wow. If you think you're hurting now, you're going to be dead when he's done with you."

Okay I admit I flinched a bit and shivered. Mason sounded serious as if he knew _exactly_ what was expected by this Dimitri. He also sounded like a legend or story for us to either fear or respect. No way would I wanna mess with him. Did I feel sorry for Rose.

In turn Rose had elbowed Mason.

We arrived in and sat down in our designated seats; Rose in the middle and Mason on her right as I was on her left.

This class covered the essentials of being a bodyguard and was required for all seniors.  
Actually, it was the third in a series that had started junior year.  
That meant Rose had a lot to catch up on but...

"Rose since you weren't here the last... two year you won't mind if I help tutor you or catch you up?" I whispered to her while glancing to the side for her answer.

"I'd love that Syd. I admit I was considering counting on Lissa to help me though this but hey why not!"

I sighed heavily on Rose's "shortcut to passing" plan, but fortunately class had begun in session.

Our instructor was Stan Alto, whom we referred to simply as "Stan" behind his back and "Guardian Alto" in formal settings.

He was a older than us around his mid-late 20s , he wasn't that tall, and he always displayed a pissed off expression.

Today, that look intensified when he walked into the classroom and... following his eyes Rose sitting there.

This confused me so I decided to observe more.

His eyes widened in mock surprise as he circled the room and came to stand beside our desk.

_Oh no... Something tells me this isn't going to end or even being well..._

"What's this? No one told me we had a guest speaker here today. Rose Hathaway. What a privilege! How very generous of you to take time out of your busy schedule and share your knowledge with us." Stan stated loudly drawing attention to us-well Rose in this case.

I saw Rose's cheeks burning a tinted red shade, but in a great show of self-control, she stopped herself from telling him god knows what foul words out her mouth.

Stan's sneer increased and gestured for her to stand up.

"Well, come on, come on. Don't sit there! Come up to the front so you can help me lecture the class."

I closed my eyes and I had thoughts running in my mind.

_He can't be seriously doing this, Rose just came back and now Stan wants to make a joke off her? Humph would've expected better for the guy to act mature and respectful towards his given title... Apparently not._

Rose sank into her seat. "You don't really mean - "

Stan's taunting smile dried up. "I mean exactly what I say, Hathaway. Go to the front of the class."

I shot her a sympathetic look and at least a comforting smile.

This of course didn't help, as when she gave me a smile smile it didn't reach her eyes.

A thick silence enveloped the room. Stan was a scary instructor, and most of the class was too awed to laugh at Rose's disgrace...yet.

Masking and holding herself up, Rose strode up to the front of the room and turned to face the class.

I mentally cheered her on and felt pride that she could put up with this.

She gave them all a bold look and tossed her hair over her shoulders, earning a few sympathetic smiles from our friends.

But I on the other hand-squinting my eyes and leaning closer- noticed some type of marking on her neck...

My eyes started to strain so then I scanned the room and noticed a larger audience than expected.

A few guardians - including the Dimitri guy - lingered in the back of the room.

Outside the Academy, guardians were focused on one-on-one protection.

Here, guardians had a lot more people to protect and they had to train the novices.

So rather than follow any one person around, they worked shifts guarding the school as a whole and monitoring classes. This made sense though.

"So, Hathaway," said Stan cheerfully, strolling back up to the front joining her."Enlighten us about your protective techniques."

"My…techniques?" Rose echoed back slightly-very slightly- in a nervous tone.

"Of course. Because presumably you must have had some sort of plan the rest of us couldn't understand when you took an underage Moroi royal out of the Academy and exposed her to constant Strigoi threats."

"We never ran into any Strigoi," She replied stiffly.

"Obviously," he said with a snicker. "I already figured that out, seeing as how you're still alive."

As much as I wanted to shout that maybe she could have defeated a Strigoi... the logical part of me knew the truth.

If she was beaten by Mason alone God knows she'd never let alone survived an attack of an _actual_ Strigoi.

Rose knew this too and didn't bother to defend herself. Stan in turn started pacing in front of the class.

"So what'd you do? How'd you make sure she stayed safe? Did you avoid going out at night?"

There was no need to indicate who _her _referred to; Lissa.

"Sometimes." That was true - especially when we'd first run away. We'd relaxed a little after months went by with no attacks.

"Sometimes," he repeated in an annoying high-pitched voice. "Well then, I suppose you slept during the day and stayed on guard at night."

"Er…no."

"No? But that's one of the first things mentioned in the chapter on solo guarding. Oh wait, you wouldn't know that because you weren't here."

Oh I had to admit that was a total burn in the face.  
"I watched the area whenever we went out," Rose said, needing to defend herself.

"Oh? Well that's something. Did you use Carnegie's Quadrant Surveillance Method or the Rotational Survey?"

I swear crickets could have been chirping in here.

"Ah. I'm guessing you used the Hathaway Glance-Around-When-You-Remember-To Method."

"No!" She exclaimed angrily. "That's not true. I watched her. She's still alive, isn't she?"

He walked back up and leaned toward Rose's face. "Because you got lucky."

"Strigoi aren't lurking around every corner out there," She shot back. "It's not like what we've been taught. It's safer than you guys make it sound."

"Safer? Safer? We are at war with the Strigoi!" he yelled.

I slightly nodded in agreement with him.

They- including me- needed the possible proper training possible if we could ever win...

"One of them could walk right up to you and snap your pretty little neck before you even noticed him - and he'd barely break a sweat doing it. You might have more speed and strength than a Moroi or a human,-this made me even more worried and shaken-but you are nothing, nothing, compared to a Strigoi. They are deadly, and they are powerful. And do you know what makes them more powerful?"

Rose looked away from him, trying to focus on something else and not cry as I saw her lips quiver. Her eyes rested on the guardians, all stone-faced.

"_Moroi blood_," I whispered.

"What was that?" asked Stan loudly."I didn't catch it."

I jerked at his tone, and my heart was beating frantically.

Had he hear me?

Rise spun back around to face him. "Moroi blood! Moroi blood makes them stronger!"

Oh Rose must have said it the same time as me then...

Stan nodded in satisfaction and took a few steps back. "Yes. It does. It makes them stronger and harder to destroy. They'll kill and drink from a human or dhampir, but they want Moroi blood more than anything else. They seek it. They've turned to the dark side to gain immortality, and they want to do whatever they can to keep that immortality. Desperate Strigoi have attacked Moroi in public. Groups of Strigoi have raided academies exactly like this one. There are Strigoi who have lived for thousands of years and fed off generations of Moroi. They're almost impossible to kill. And that is why Moroi numbers are dropping. They aren't strong enough - even with guardians - to protect themselves. Some Moroi don't even see the point of running anymore and are simply turning Strigoi by choice. And as the Moroi disappear…

" _So do the dhampirs._" I thought.

"…so do the dhampirs," Rose finished.

"Well," he said, licking sprayed spit off his lips. "It looks like you learned something after all. Now we'll have to see if you can learn enough to pass this class and qualify for your field experience next semester."

Yikes.

Rose spent the rest of class - in her seat, thankfully.

I admit I heard the senior-year field experience was the best part of a novice's education.  
We'd have no classes for half a semester. (Actually this kinda bummed me out I loved grasping new knowledge and information!)

Anyway instead, we'd each be assigned a Moroi student to guard and follow around. Its said the adult guardians would monitor us and test us with staged attacks and other threats.

How a novice passed that field experience was almost as important as all the rest of our grades combined. It could influence which Moroi we got assigned to after graduation.

Would I get a Moroi student to guard anyway?

I mean lets face it Dhampirs and humans are _completely_ different.

But I always felt some surge of energy in me that boosted myself to excel besides my calculation and observation.

I'm not taking about the energy food consumes because I barely ate that much... It was something entirely else.

I may have to discuss this with Captain Petrov when the time comes close. I wouldn't mind the Moroi... as long as they're tolerable.

Mostly likely going to end up being a Royal... Oh God... The lot of them are total assholes or snobby bitches... The only one I've found sweet was well... Lissa.

Most of the Dhampirs and I knew Rose would charge her way to making sure she got Lissa as her assign Moroi in the trial and eventually as her career of a guardian.

I was feeling quite hungry and thankfully it was now lunch.

I let Rose cool off at her own time throughout the last two periods by then she was telling me of her conversation with Dimitri as the hallway was mostly cleared.

Mostly everyone else had long since sprinted inside the commons for lunch, eager to maximize their social time.

"He left then and now I don't feel such a badass." She sighed as she ended.

"Rose-"

A voice under the door's overhang called out.

Peering in the voice's direction, I caught sight of Lord Victor Dashkov, his kind face smiling at Rose and I as he leaned on a cane near the building's wall. His two guardians stood nearby at a polite distance.

"Lord Dashkov." I stated in a proper tone.

"Mr. Dash-er, Your Highness. Hi." Rose quickly caught herself _again_ forgetting the Moroi royal terms.

I displayed a small smile and a roll of an eye from Rose's reply.

The Moroi chose their rulers from among twelve royal families. The eldest in the family got the title of "prince" or "princess." Lissa was an permitted due to her being the last one left in her line.

"How was your first day?" he asked addressing towards Rose.

"Not over yet." Rose tried to think of something conversational. "Are you visiting here for a while?"

"I'll be leaving this afternoon after I say hello to Natalie. When I heard Vasilisa - and you - had returned, I simply had to come see you."

We both nodded, not sure what else to say. He was more Lissa's friend than ours.

"I wanted to tell you…" He spoke hesitantly. "I understand the gravity of what you did, but I think Headmistress Kirova failed to acknowledge something. You did keep Vasilisa safe all this time. That is impressive."

"Well, it's not like I faced down Strigoi or anything," She said.

"But you faced down some things?"

"Sure. The school sent psi-hounds once."

_Psi-hounds... More dangerous than the average police dog or wolf_.

"Remarkable."

_I doubt it._

"Not really. Avoiding them was pretty easy."

He laughed. "I've hunted with them before. They aren't that easy to evade, not with their powers and intelligence." It was true.

I read that Psi-hounds were one of many types of magical creatures that wandered the world, creatures that humans never knew about or else didn't believe they'd really seen.

The hounds traveled in packs and shared a sort of psychic communication that made them particularly deadly to their prey - as did the fact that they resembled mutant wolves.

"Did you face anything else?"

She shrugged. "Little things here and there."

I feel like Rose was hiding something else she didn't want him to know.

"Remarkable," he repeated.

"Lucky, I think. It turns out I'm really behind in all this guardian stuff." Rose was sounding just like Stan now.

"You're a smart girl. You'll catch up. And you also have your bond."

Wait, what bond?

Lord Dashkov noticed my expression and realized his... Slip up.

"Oh dear pardon me I didn't realized-"

"It's find Your Highness she'll know soon enough after I explain." Rose consoled.

She looked away then in deep thought.

"The histories are full of stories of guardians who could feel when their charges were in danger," Victor resumed.

"I've made a hobby of studying up on it and some of the ancient ways. I've heard it's a tremendous asset."

"I guess." Rose shrugged not really caring I on the other hand hung on his every word.

"I wouldn't mind doing so if Rose here won't." I stated playfully bumping my shoulder on her and vise-versa.

Victor tilted his head, curiosity all over his face.

"What is it like - if you don't mind me asking?"

I was all ears on this one.

"It's…I don't know, Rose began. I just sort of always have this hum of how she feels. Usually it's just emotions. We can't send messages or anything."

"But it doesn't work the other way? She doesn't sense you?"

She shook my head.

This surprised me, I would have assumed some-type of telepathic messaging... I was definitely intruded.

Lord Dashkov face shone with wonder. "How did it happen?"

"I don't know," She said, still glancing away. "Just started two years ago."

He frowned. "Near the time of the accident?"

Hesitantly, She nodded.

The accident was not something we wanted to talk about, that was for sure.

I couldn't imagine the pain Lissa has gone through.I couldn't imagine Mom,Carly, and Zoe... Oh God.

Maybe I could but I refuse to think so any further.

Lissa's parents and brother never woke up.

Just Rose.

It was a miracle itself, she shouldn't have survived.

I felt a piece of a puzzle missing... something quite important.

Apparently sensing Rose's discomfort, Victor let the moment go and returned to his earlier excitement.

"I can still barely believe this. It's been so long since this has happened. If it did happen more often…just think what it could do for the safety of all Moroi. If only others could experience this too. I'll have to do more research and see if we can replicate it with others."

"Yeah." Rose was getting impatient, despite how much we liked him. I was feeling the same way.

Natalie so happens to be actually Victor Dashkov's daughter and a rambler. Big time. So it was pretty clear which parent she'd inherited that quality from. She resembled the ideal nerd, wasn't really popular, and wore signature pair of round glasses.

Lunch was ticking down, and although Moroi and novices shared afternoon classes, We wouldn't have much time to talk with Lissa.

"Perhaps we could - " He started coughing, a great, seizing fit that made his whole body shake.

His disease, Sandovsky's Syndrome, took the lungs down with it while dragging the body toward death. Rose cast an anxious look at his guardians, while I looked in sorrow as one of them stepped forward. "Your Highness," he said politely, "you need to go inside. It's too cold out here."

Victor nodded. "Yes, yes. And I'm sure Rose and Sydney here want to eat." He turned to us. "Thank you for speaking with me. I can't emphasize how much it means to me that Vasilisa is safe - and that you helped with that.

That was for Rose.

I'd promised her father I'd look after her if anything happened to him, and I felt like quite the failure when you left."

A knot tied in my stomach seeing him wracked with guilt and worry over Rose and Lissa's disappearance.

We made our goodbyes, and we finally arrived inside the school.

"Why didn't you tell me Rose about this... bond you have with Lissa?" I asked after some time.

"I didn't really know you at the time and well I wasn't all that sure what it was- even now I'm trying to figure it out. Im sorry though i wanted to tell you just at the right time. But I'm glad to get that off my chest." She responded sincerely.

I on the other hand felt guilt pour into me. I really wanted to tell Rose and eventually my other friends who the the person they knew wasn't who she _really_ was.

I wasn't a dhampir by the name of Sydney Melrose. Who just had escaped from an orphanage after her going through fifth foster care families and just happen to "stumble"upon the St. Valdimir's after the last family becoming abusive. My parents being written dead in a house fire.

I was Sydney _Sage_. Former _human_ Alchemist that had a cursed golden lily tattoo on her left lower cheek. Who saw the Dhampirs and Moroi not as "evil creatures of the night" but as similar to moral modest humans. Who escaped the destiny of "re-education" and practically was cut off from the rest of my family all because of my _father_ Jared Sage...

Rose suddenly picked up her pace into the commons as I jogged to catch up.

And nearly ran right into her and Lissa.

Lissa didn't see us, though.

Neither did the people standing with her: Aaron and a girl that appeared little and quite young.

Oh yes Mia Rinaldi. A non-royal Moroi who had now claims on Lissa's former boyfriend Aaron Drozdov. (Honestly he wasn't _that_ good-looking to begin with at least to me.)

We stopped and listened, just catching the end of the conversation. Mia leaned toward Lissa, who seemed more stunned than anything else.

"It looks to me like it came from a garage sale. I thought a precious _Dragomir_ would have standards."

Scorn dripped off the word _Dragomir_.

"Oh she did not just say that..." I muttered harshly to Rose who nodded and marched towards Mia.

She suddenly grabbed Mia's shoulder, jerking her away.

She was so light, that she stumbled three feet and nearly fell.

I muffled a laugh and then displayed a slight knowing smirk.

She's about to find out what happens when you insult not just any Dragomir -but Lissa- who happens to be close friends with Rose Hathaway.

"She does have standards," Rose said, "which is why you're done talking to her."

**I'm done yea! I'm posting this early for you lots so yea and i wont update again until the 19th or after it. Reviews please! **


	5. Chapter 3

**Yea finally got my senior project done so I'm back and this is to help me lift my mood up from day... Anyway enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Richelle Mead owns Vampire Academy and Bloodlines.**

_Chapter 4  
Sydney's POV_

Thank God, as I quickly scanned looked around at our audience. They only consisted about a handful or two of by passers who'd stopped to stare at our current...dilemma.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" questioned Mia , her blue eyes wide and sparkling with fury.

Up close I was able to get a better look at her not that I hadn't already expected on the way she looked from previous years at the Academy.

She had the same slim build as most Moroi but the usual height well...she didn't achieve leaving her appearing "child-like".

Her tiny purple dress - definitely a designer knockoff-was quite pretty - mentally adding on a reminder I needed an update on my own wardrobe in the near future... I'm sure Rose wouldn't mind dealing with that category.

Rose crossed her arms across her chest. "Are you lost, little girl? The elementary school's over on west campus."

I not my bottom lip flickering my eyes between Rose and Mia.

Yes as much as Mia was well acting like a total bitch she had her intentions on why. I had gotten to know her personally and it had to do with Lissa or more _someone_ related to Lissa

I decided to stay back a bit behind Rose only to interfere if the girls broke into a fight.

Though I'm sure Rose would have Mia plunged on the ground by then.

A pink flush spread over Mia's cheeks. "Don't you ever touch me again. You screw with me, and I'll screw you right back."

Though I have or admit Mia was pretty bold to cross that far with Rose, knowing well about the stories whispered about perhaps at late nights.

"Rose don't its not worth it." I firmly held a grip on her shoulder along with a pointed look while a head shake from Lissa stopped her from unleashing any number of hilarious comebacks.

Instead, Rose opted for simple brute force, so to speak.

"And if you mess with either one of us again, Rose pointed at Lissa, herself and I. I'll break you in half. If you don't believe me, go ask Dawn Yarrow about what I did to her arm in ninth grade. You were probably at nap time when it happened."

The incident with Dawn hadn't been one of her finer moments. I honestly hadn't expected Rose to break any bones when she practically shoved Dawn into a tree.

Still, the incident had given Rose a dangerous reputation, while I swore to never to step out of line with her. Thus in addition to her smartass one.

The story had gained legendary status, and Judging from the look on Mia's face, she was familiar with it.

One of the patrolling staff members strolled by right then, casting suspicious eyes at our little meeting. Mia backed off, taking Aaron's arm and flickering a long undetectable glaze at me. But I could tell she felt betrayed.

"Come on," she said trying to tug Aaron along with her.

"Aaron." I said respectfully trying to draw the tension in the air away.

"Hey, Aaron," Rose replied cheerfully afterwards, remembering he was there. "Nice to see you again."

He gave her and me a quick nod and an uneasy smile, just as Mia dragged him off. Same old Aaron. He might be nice and cute to other girls, but aggressive he was not for sure.

I turned to Lissa. "You okay?" She nodded.

"Any idea who I just threatened to beat up by the way?" Rose added in her hand on her hip.

"Not a clue." Lissa replied sincerely. We started to lead her toward the lunch line, but she shook her head at us. "Gotta go see the feeders."

A funny feeling settled over me. As much as I've come to terms with the Moroi I'd like to not be reminded of their "secondary" food source. Blood. Human blood.

This though made my stomach tighten further. It was part of a Moroi's normal routine and in their daily lives though. It's just I've mainly avoided seeing the whole scenario occur in front of me.

I will admit if it came down to it in dire emergency situations only then would I perhaps let only my close Moroi friend... Drink from me.

So far this hasn't occurred and I hope it tends to stay that way.

I forced a smile. "Sure."

Deep breathes Sage you can handle some blood drinking, how bad can it actually be?

We walked into the feeding room, which sat adjacent to the cafeteria. It was set up with small cubicles, dividing the room's space in an effort to offer privacy.

A dark-haired Moroi woman greeted us at the entrance and glanced down at her clipboard, flipping through the pages. Finding what she needed, she made a few notes and then gestured for Lissa to follow.

She gave a puzzled look at Rose and I, suddenly glazing at me mainly more intently like she was looking through me.

Shit. Dhampirs couldn't decipher the diffrence between humans and themselves... But Moroi could.

I swore Queen Tatiana made sure to request completion...(A shocker right?) on the Moroi's to not question or report me and that's extreme that she'd really do that for me.

Luckily the Moroi lady didn't stop us from entering.

She led us to one of the cubicles where a plump, middle-aged woman sat leafing through a magazine. She looked up at our approach and smiled. In her eyes, I could see the dreamy, glazed-over look most feeders had. She'd probably neared her quota for the day, judging from how high she appeared to be.

Recognizing Lissa, her smile grew. "Welcome back, Princess."

The greeter left us, and Lissa sat down in the chair beside the woman. I sensed a feeling of discomfort in her, a little like my own.

This was weird for her too; must have been a long time. The feeder, however, had no such reservations. An eager look crossed her face - the look of a junkie about to get her next fix.

This had the opposite effect; my face scrunched up in extreme discomfort and I felt slightly dizzy.

Disgust poured into me. It was an old instinct, one that had been drilled in over the years as an Alchemist.

Feeders were essential to Moroi life. They were humans who willingly volunteered to be a regular blood source, humans from the fringes of society who gave their lives over to the secret world of the Moroi.

They were well cared for and given all the comforts they could need. But at the heart of it, unfortunately they were in the end drug users, addicts to Moroi saliva and the rush it offered with each bite.

The Moroi - Alchemist and guardians - looked down on this dependency, even though the Moroi couldn't have survived otherwise unless they took victims by force.

Hypocrisy as its seen to me.

The feeder tilted her head, giving Lissa full access to her neck. Her skin there was marked with scars from years of daily bites.

Lissa leaned forward, fangs biting into the feeder's yielding flesh. The woman closed her eyes, making a soft sound of pleasure.

I swallowed thickly, watching Lissa drink. I couldn't see any blood thankfully, but I could imagine it. I felt the emotion of... curiously now.

I was kinda fascinated at the sight and it wasn't as bad as I was taught and picture.

I just reminded myself it wasn't like Dracula or those cheesy vampire flicks where the victim is sucked dry.

Moroi only took small sips to regenerate themselves, sucking them dry left them transforming as Strigoi.

Rose seemed to look down a troubled expression on her face; in conflict with herself. I saw the faint bite marks on her neck again and it clicked me.

What if Rose...?

No way, she wouldn't. She told me herself clearly she'd never do such a thing...

Lissa finally finished up and we returned to the commons, moving toward the lunch line.

It was short, since we only had fifteen minutes left, and we strolled up and began loading our plates.

Rose with french fries and some rounded, bite-size objects that looked vaguely like chicken nuggets.

I selected a Caesar salad with grilled chicken slices, parfait and... Yes! A good cup of coffee. My favorite pass time drink since I was young, probably explains why I'm short compared to Zoe and Carly... Oh well I can't resist the taste!

Lissa only grabbed a yogurt.

Moroi needed food, as dhampirs and humans did, but rarely had an appetite after drinking blood.

"So how'd classes go?" Rose asked breaking the tension.

Lissa shrugged. Her face was bright with color and life now.

"Okay. Lots of stares. A lot of stares. Lots of questions about where we were. Whispering." She then looked at me.

"Did Rose tell you Sydney?" She asked after observing the fact I hadn't questioned anything.

"A good amount but not everything ." I replied.

She nodded and turned her attention to Rose.

"Same here, thank god I didn't have to dwell it all myself." she said.

The attendant checked us out, and we walked toward the tables.

I shot Lissa a sidelong glance. They aren't you now bothering you, are they? Hopefully not as bad as what Rose had gotten?"

"No - it's fine." The emotions coming through contracted her words. It didn't take a genius to know she was trying to steer away the subject by hastily handing Rose and I her class schedule.

I took and looked it over, as Rose leaned beside to see as well.

_1st Period Russian 2_

_2nd Period American Colonial Literature_

_3rd Period Basics of Elemental Control_

_4th Period Ancient Poetry_

_-Lunch -_

_5th Period Animal Behavior and Physiology_

_6th Period Advanced Calculus_

_7th Period Moroi Culture 4_

_8th Period Slavic Art_

" I swear you're just like Sydney here a total nerd," Rose said and while adding on, "If you were in Stupid Math like me, we'd have the same afternoon schedule."

She suddenly stopped walking. "Why are you in elemental basics? That's a sophomore class."

Lissa eyed her, as we waited for her response.

"Because seniors take specialized classes."

We all fell silent at that.

All Moroi wielded elemental magic. It was one of the things that differentiated living vampires from Strigoi, the dead vampires.

Moroi viewed magic as a gift. It was part of their souls and connected them to the world.

Alchemist me was told it was a curse and impure, a gift of Satan himself.

Currently me was actually intruded and wanted to know more about their powers.

Not once had I seen much use to it unless it was necessary but I knew there could was a much more purpose.

Though centuries ago, they had used their magic openly - averting natural disasters and helping with things like food and water production.

It wasn't required anymore, but the magic was still seep their blood.

It burned in them and made them want to reach out to the earth and wield their power.

Academies like this existed to help Moroi control the magic and learn how to do increasingly complex things with it.

Students also had to learn the rules that surrounded magic, rules that had been in place for centuries and were strictly enforced.

All Moroi had a small ability in each element which was pretty neat info for me.

When they got to be around our current ages, students "specialized" when one element grew stronger than the others: earth, water, fire, or air.

Not specializing was like not going through puberty.

Lissa hadn't specialized yet as far as I heard.

"Is Ms. Carmack still teaching that? What she'd say?" I questioned.

"She says she's not worried. She thinks it'll come." She said in an optimistic tone.

Oh Lissa...

"Did you - did you tell her about - " rise suddenly asked in a worried panicky voice.

Lissa shook her head frantically. "No. Of course not."

We let the subject drop. It was one we thought about a lot but rarely spoke of.

We started moving again, scanning the tables as we decided where to sit. A few pairs of eyes looked up at us with blatant curiosity and... fear upon Roses appearance.

"Lissa!" came a nearby voice. Glancing over, we saw Natalie waving at us.

Rose and I exchanged looks.

Natalie was sort of Lissa's cousin in the way Victor was sort of her uncle, yet all my years here we'd never once hung out with her at all. Just occasional greetings.

Lissa on the other hand shrugged and headed in that direction. "Why not?"

"Come on, I'm sure it'll be interesting to really get to know Nat for real this time." I tugged Rose's arm getting her to follow... reluctantly while mumbling under her breath.

Natalie was nice but also lets face it a bore to be around with. Perhaps worst than me.

Most royals at the school enjoyed a kind of celebrity status, but Natalie had never fit in with that crowd.

She was too plain, too uninterested in the politics of the Academy, and too clueless to really navigate them anyway.

Actually now that I think about it I don't even compare to her...

Natalie's friends eyed us with a quiet curiosity, but she didn't hold back. She threw her arms around us.

She had jade-green eyes similar to Lissa's, but her hair was jet black, like Victor's had been before his disease grayed it.

"You're back! I knew you would be! Everyone said you were gone forever, but I never believed that. I knew you couldn't stay away. Why'd you go? There are so many stories about why you left!" Lissa exchanged glances with Rose and I as Natalie prattled on.

_God did this girl talk a lot._

She kinda acted like me...except without the bubbly enthusiasm.  
I got like this whenever I tend to get all nervous and panicky.

It's more of a funny sight to see when I dis it unlike Natalie's current state. which had me checking my watch counting the minutes.

"Camille said one of you got pregnant and went off to have an abortion, but I knew that couldn't be true. Someone else said you went off to hang out with Rose's mom, but I figured Ms. Kirova and Daddy wouldn't have been so upset if you'd turned up there. Did you know we might get to be roommates? I was talking to…"

Onstop she chatted, flashing her fangs as she spoke. I was wondering when she's suffocate on her own breath.

I smiled politely but I was getting impatient and annoyed as I tapped my foot.

Rose seemed like it too as she gave a painstaking smile letting Lissa deal with the onslaught until Natalie asked a dangerous question.

"What'd you do for blood, Lissa?"

The table regarded us questioningly. Lissa froze, but Rose immediately jumped in, the lie coming effortlessly to her lips.

"Oh, it's easy. There are a lot of humans who want to do it."

I could easily read her lie as a vain twitched on her neck and her jaw hardened in place.

"Really?" asked one of Natalie's friends, wide-eyed.

_Wow wasn't she so gullibly. _I silently thought as I slowly sipped on my hot brewed cofee and took a bite of my salad. Yum.

"Yup. You find 'em at parties and stuff. They're all looking for a fix from something, and they don't really get that a vampire's doing it: most are already so wasted they don't remember anyway." I twitched a smile and mentally shook my head. Tisk.  
Rose was trying too hard to play it cool with confidence.

I let her continue suddenly finding this amusing.

"Like I said, it's easy. Almost easier than with our own feeders."

Natalie accepted this and than launched into some other topic. Lissa shot Rose a grateful look and me a knowing one.

Tuning out the conversation, I took a look at my surroundings.

Specifically the old faces, trying to figure out who was hanging out with whom and how power had shifted within the school... blah blah blah you get the idea.

Mason, sitting with a group of novices, caught my eye, and I smiled then faked a gun on my head "shooting" myself and letting my eyes close and stick my tongue out.

This had him burst out laughing making the peers at his table state at him oddly.

"I totally saw that Syd." Rose imputed with a smile on her face and we gave each other high fives

Mason then shifted his glaze over to Rose and responded by a big grin.

Awww he really did look adorable like that.

Near him, a group of Moroi royals sat, laughing over something. Aaron and Mia sat there too.

"Hey, Natalie," I heard Rise ask, turning around and cutting her off. She didn't seem to notice or mind. "Who's Aaron's new girlfriend?"

"Huh? Oh. Mia Rinaldi." Seeing Rose's blank look, she asked, "Don't you remember her?"

"Should I? Was she here when we left?"

"She's always been here," said Natalie. "She's only a year younger than us."

Rise shot a questioning look at Lissa, who only shrugged.

She tried at me, but I quickly stuffed my mouth with a spoonful of parfait, giving a shrug.

"Why is she so pissed off at us?" she asked. "Neither of us know her."

"I don't know," answered Natalie. "Maybe she's jealous about Aaron. She wasn't much of anybody when you guys left. She got really popular really fast. She isn't royal or anything, but once she started dating Aaron, she - "

"Okay, thanks," Rose interrupted. "It doesn't really - "

Suddenly Rose eyes lifted up from Natalie's face to-as I turned to see as well- Jesse Zeklos's, just as he passed by our table.

Jesse. How could I possibly forget him?

I groaned as annoyance filled me up from previous encounters with him.  
He was such a lady's man flirting with every girl possible to just get her in bed with him.  
To most girls Jesse was in an entirely different category of... Ugh dare I say... Sexy.

God that sounded funny coming from my mouth.

Anyway basically girls flirted with the other guys simply for the sake of flirting.

You flirted with Jesse in the hopes of getting flat out butt-naked with him.

He was a royal Moroi, and he -like most Moroi's- were to hard not to glaze upon. A warming sign would have helped me to get away and avoid the jerk.

He met my eyes holding my stare and grinned. I looked right thorough him unaffected as always with his looks.

Yes, he wanted to claim me. I was really at the point of wanting to punch his so called "pretty" face.

The main reason it started?

I was the only girl to not drool or talk nonsense around him when I first came here. He's called me "pretty blonde" and "sunshine".

God he reminded me of Keith.

He hasn't giving up...yet. Not have I. _Two can play the game._

Then he shifted them slowly away to Rose, trying another of his "breathless" smiles that made any other girl struck in awe.

Like I said he liked me but it didn't stop to go after his second option.

"Hey Rose, welcome back. You still breaking hearts?"

"Are you volunteering?" She responded in a flirty tone.

His grin widened. "Let's hang out sometime and find out. If you ever get parole."

He kept walking, and I watched Rose looked at him admiringly.

It's Rose's personal matter so I shouldn't bother saying anything to change her mind on Zeklos.

Natalie and her friends stared at her in awe. With this group, Lissa and Rose were looked upon as gods of another nature.

"Oh my gawd," exclaimed one girl. I didn't recall her name. "That was Jesse."

"Yes," Rose said, smiling. "It certainly was."

"I wish I looked like you," she added with a sigh.

Their eyes and mine fell on Rose.

Technically, she was half-Moroi, but looked human like me. She'd blended in well with humans I suppose so much that barely a thought about her appearance was a matter.

Here, among the slim and small-chested Moroi girls, certain features - meaning her developed breasts (sigh...like mine) and more defined hips (like mine...again) - stood out.

I knew I was pretty, and to Moroi boys, they when for a bodies like Rose's and...mine I guess. Dhampirs though were an exotic conquest, more than just pretty. A novelty all Moroi guys wanted to "try."

It was ironic that dhampirs had such an allure here, because slender Moroi girls looked very much like the super-skinny runway models so popular in my human world.

I knew deep down I could never reach that "ideal" skinniness, just as Moroi girls could never look like me or Rose.

We wanted what we couldn't have.

Lissa, and I got to sit together in our shared afternoon classes(a desk for two and they were assigned seats) but didn't do much talking.

The stares she'd mentioned certainly did follow us -well her and Rose mainly-, but I found that the more Rose and Lissa talked to people, the more they warmed up.

Slowly, gradually, they seemed to remember who they were, and the novelty - though not the intrigue - of their crazy stunt wore off.

Or maybe I, they remembered who Rose was as she talked the most.

Lissa just stared straight ahead, listening but neither acknowledging nor participating in attempts at conversation.

I could sense anxiety and sadness out of her.

"All right," Rose told her when classes finally ended. We stood outside the school, and I was fully aware knowing Rose she was attempting something rule-breaking.

"We're not staying here," She told Lissa, looking around the campus uneasily. "I'm going to find a way to get us out."

"What the hell Rose, are you... Have you not learned the first time?!" I practically had my voice louder at each syllable.

Rose shushed me quickly.

"You think we could really do it a second time?" Lissa asked quietly.

"Absolutely." Rose spoke with certainty pouring. I face palmed myself.

Escaping the first time had to have been tricky enough. Doing it again... Oh God... I didn't want to know.

"You really would, wouldn't you?" Lissa smiled, more to herself than to Rose, like she'd thought of something funny.

"Of course you would. It's just, well…" She sighed. "I don't know if we should go. Maybe - maybe we should stay."

Rose and I blinked in astonishment. For different reasons.

"What?" Rose managed. Clearly she wasn't expecting this from her.

"I saw you, Rose. I saw you talking to the other novices during class, talking about practice. You miss that."

"It's not worth it," She argued. "Not if…not if you…" Rose didn't-couldn't finish.

"You guys just came back, I'd hate it if you were to go again..." My voice falling off. I'd missed Rose and Lissa not that Mason, Eddie and on occasion Mia kept me company but I really had a close friendship Rose ore than Lissa and I've missed that.

"It might be better," Lissa countered. "I haven't had as many…you know, things happening in a while. I haven't felt like anyone was following or watching us."

I didn't say anything to that.

Before they'd left the Academy, Lissa always felt like someone was following her, like she was being hunted.

I actually thought the Alchemist had found me... anyway I'd never seen solid evidence to support her thoughts, but I had once heard one of our teachers go on and on about the same sort of thing.

Ms. Karp. Sonya Karp was her full name, I remember reading her file back in the Alchemist days.

She was a pretty Moroi, with deep auburn air and high cheekbones. And I was pretty sure she was... Unstable.

"You never know who's watching," she used to say, walking briskly around the classroom as she shut all the blinds.

"Or who's following you. Best to be safe. Best to always be safe."

We'd snickered amongst ourselves because that's what students do around eccentric and paranoid teachers.

"What's the matter Sydney?" Lissa asked, noticing that I was lost in thought.

"Huh? Oh just... thinking." I replied carefully.

"Liss, you know what? We can stay, I guess…but there are a few conditions." Rose finally concluded.

This made her laugh. "A Rose ultimatum, huh?" Thus making me smile as well.

"I'm serious." I raised an eyebrow. This was serious by the way Rose's tone spoke.

"I want you to stay away from the royals. Not like Natalie or anything but you know, the others. The power players. Camille. Carly. That group."

I was pretty surprised at this request.

Lissa's amusement turned to astonishment. "Are you serious?"

"Sure. You never liked them anyway."

"You did." Yea didn't she just request Zeklos permission for a make-out session?

"No. Not really. I liked what they could offer. All the parties and stuff."

"Sex." I coughed out making her playfully glare at me as I looked back with an innocent smile.

"And you can go without that now?" She looked skeptical, I mirroring her.

"Sure. We did in Portland."

"Damn they went that far out?" I questioned. I hadn't gone there as a Alchemist but I didn't mind after hearing about the "vacation spot".

"Yeah, but that was different." Her eyes stared off, not really focused on anyone or thing. "Here…here I've got to be a part of that. I can't avoid it."

"The hell you do. Natalie stays out of that stuff."

"Yea, if Natalie does it why not you? You've down it this far why stop?"

"Natalie isn't going to inherit her family's title," she retorted. "I've already got it. I've got to be involved, start making connections. Andre - "

"Liss," Rose and I groaned. "You aren't Andre." We couldn't believe she was still comparing herself to her brother.

"He was always involved in all that stuff."

"Yeah, well," Rose snapped back, "he's dead now."

Sigh really Rose really...

As expected Lissa's face hardened. "You know, sometimes you aren't very nice."

Translation of nice meaning a bitch.

"You don't keep me around to be nice. You want nice, there are a dozen sheep in there who would rip each other's throats to get in good with the Dragomir princess. You keep me around to tell you the truth, and here it is: Andre's dead. You're the heir now, and you're going to deal with it however you can. But for now, that means staying away from the other royals. We'll just lie low. Coast through the middle. Get involved in that stuff again, Liss, and you'll drive yourself…"

"Crazy?" she and I supplied when Rose didn't finish.

Now Rose looked away. "I didn't mean…"

"It's okay." Lissasaid, after a moment. She sighed and touched her arm. "Fine. We'll stay and we'll keep out of all that stuff." She emphasized with a pointed look towards me as she pulled me in our now mini-circle, indicating I was in this deal and couldn't get out.

Nothing new to me as I was already in one.

"We'll 'coast through the middle' like you want Rose. Hang out with Natalie, I guess."

To be perfectly honest, I didn't want any of that. I mean come on it would eventually lead from simple and safe to boring.

I minded to attend most of all the royal parties and wild drunken festivities hosted before.

Ok I wasn't a party girl but I wanted to enjoy loosening up more for Senior year.

Andre by the way should have been the one to inherit her family's title, and he'd certainly acted like it.

There was no denying he was handsome and outgoing, and charming everyone he knew and a host in royal cliques and clubs that existed on campus.

After his death, I concluded Lissa had felt it was her family duty to take his place.

I'd gotten to join that world with her.

It was easy for Rose and me, because we didn't really have to deal with the politics of it.

I was a qualified "dhampir", who could get away with anything until after graduation.

Lissa had to deal with other matters.

The Dragomirs were one of the twelve ruling families. She'd have a very powerful place in Moroi society, and the other young royals wanted to get in good with her.

Fake friends tried to schmooze her and get her to team up against other people.

The royals could bribe and backstab in the same breath - and that was just with each other.

To dhampirs and non-royals, they were completely unpredictable.

That cruel culture had eventually taken its toll on Lissa.

She was an open, kind natured, one that Rose and I loved, and we hated to see her upset and stressed by royal games.

She'd grown fragile since the accident, and all these parties in the world weren't worth seeing her hurt.

"All right then," I said finally. "We'll see how this goes. If anything goes wrong - anything at all - we all leave. No arguments."

Rose and Lissa nodded.

"Rose?"

We both looked up at Dimitri's looming form. I prayed he hadn't heard the part about us leaving.

"You're late for practice, both you and Sydney Melrose." he said evenly.

Seeing Lissa, he gave a polite nod. "Princess."

Wait what? Me practice with this guy?

I didn't have time to question as Rose and him walked away, I was in my panic modes.

How did I get dragged into being mentored by Dimitri? I'm pretty sure he must have eventually been informed who I really was right? Oh I'm gonna be dead as Mason had gladly put it.

"So um Guardian Belikov why am I being mentored? I'm sure you were well informed on who I am?" I ended quietly not wanting to let Rose overhear.

"I was informed that you are a talented fighter as a student and are provided more advance techniques from the well-experienced of the guaidians. Since I was to assist Rose to get her caught up, Alberta insisted the Queen to get you under my wing. The Queen agreed without a question."

I reminded myself to thank Guardian Petrov.

The Queen on the other hand? She'd left me baffled. How could I be that important to give off special treatments and opportunities? Was Queen Tatiana up to something that I was to pay back towards?

I snapped out of my thoughts.

"Rose? Rose?"

Blinking, I focused on Dimitri's face.

He was leaning toward Rose, his hands gripping her shoulders. Shed happen to stopped walking suddenly; we all stood in the middle of the quad separating the upper school buildings.

"Are you all right?" He asked with faint hint of Russian in his English dialect.

"I…yeah. I was…I was with Lissa…" I put a hand to my forehead.

Ah the bond between Lissa ad Rose I totally forgot about.

"I was in her head."

"Her…head?" Dimitri questioned.

"Yeah. It's part of the bond." She didn't feel like elaborating mostly it may be complex to explain.

"Is she all right?"

"Yeah, she's…" Rose hesitated.

Was she all right?

"She's not in danger," She finally said after a few long minutes.

I hoped so.

"Can you keep going?" The hard, stoic warrior Dimitri was known as fell suddenly into...concern? True concern.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Rose stated brushing it off as it was nothing.

We went into the gym's dressing room and changed into the workout clothes someone had finally thought to give us after a day of practicing in jeans and a T-shirt.

Uck.

"So what actually happens back there?" I asked as I slipped on my tank.

Rose sighed before answering. "Lissa had a run in with Christian Ozera."

This made me freeze.

"He doesn't happens to be the Moroi with messy black hair, Pale blue eyes, and a perpetually sardonic smirk?" I questioned.

"Yea why? You've talked with him?" I knew she meant it as a joke but the truth was I had.

When I first started at the Academy and during the two years without Rose and Lissa. He wasn't a bad guy, kept to himself but he was good company whenever I had gotten the chance.

"So what about him?" I asked.

"He practically invited Lissa to "hang out"with him. I don't trust him you know what's been said about him right?"

I did know the tragic event that occured to Christian himself, by his parents.

See hear dispute the fact he was a Royal he was pitied or blamed for scaring the Ozera name.

His parents had become Strigoi..by choice.

Moroi were alive, mortal and born.

Strigoi were undead, immortal, and made.

Two ways to make a Strigoi.

One Strigoi could forcibly turn humans, dhampirs, or Moroi with a single bite.

Second Moroi tempted by the promise of immortality could become Strigoi by choice if they purposely killed another person while feeding.

Doing that was considered dark and twisted, the greatest of all sins, both against the Moroi way of life and nature itself.

Moroi who chose this dark path lost their ability to connect with elemental magic and other powers of the world. That was why they could no longer go into the sun.

This was exactly what Christian's parents had done willingly.

**Yea I'm done! Read and review!**


	6. Chapter 4

**I was bored so I decided hey why not update! So any news on VA sequels? You guys seen this new TV series on The CW called Star-Crossed?! It's sooo good at least for now! I also need to see The Originals as well...**

**Disclaimer: Richelle Mead owns VA/BL**

_Chapter 5  
Sydney's POV_

They weren't alive anymore... Christian's parents were destroyed by a group of guardians that had them surrounded.

God when Christian told me he'd witnessed it all as a mere kid it made my heart break for him. He parents had plan to turn him as well but luckily it hadn't happened.

Though it didn't help that he was shunned by the rest of the Morois and the vibe he let off on his dressing and attitude didn't help at all knowing he could stumble one day to be just like Strigoi...

I didn't want that for him and well now maybe finally he'd taken up upon my advice to get to know Lissa now that she's back...

Who would have though he was quick to confess he's growing affection for the last Dragomir? Then again I was willing to talk and listen to him during the last 2 years and forge a strong friendship with him.

I broke away from my thoughts as I heard Belikov laughing.

"What's is funny? I clearly missed the memo." I asked looking between Rose currently hands on her hips and Bekilov dropping his smile.

"Oh, you were serious." Was his response.

Rose bursted,"Of course I was! Look, I've technically been awake for two days. Why do we have to start this training now? Let me go to bed, it's just one hour."

It didn't take a idiot to know Belikov wasn't buying Roses speech as he looked down at her fully in business-mode.

"How do you feel right now? After the training you've done so far?" He asked.

"I hurt like hell." This brought back memories of this morning with Mason and her. She saw me at the corner of her eye me covering my laughter with a cough. She peered her eyes at me before returning her attention to Bekilov .

"You'll feel worse tomorrow." He's not helping Rose at all by saying that

"So?" Rose responded with such attitude.

"So, better to jump in now while you still feel…not as bad."

"What kind of logic is that?" Rose retorted while I had the wheels turning in my head.

"He'd rather us suffer now while we practice, instead of delaying it if we may get into a sticky situation in reality." I said confirming my thoughts to Ross as Bekilov slightly nodded.

He led us into the weight room. It was like a mini-tour for us as he pointed out the weights and reps he wanted us to do. He then settled in a corner with a battered Western novel.

After long painful hours Rose and I finished, he stood by our sides to demonstrated a few cool-down stretches.

"How'd you end up as Lissa's guardian?" Rose asked. "You weren't here a few years ago. Were you even trained at this school?"

He didn't answer right away. He must not really be a talker as I continued I mimic his stretches which really helped loosen the tightness in my muscles.

"No. I attended the one in Siberia."

"Whoa. That's got to be the only place worse than Montana." Rose responded.

It was...kinda. I only enjoyed the buildings and architecture of the place but overall it was cold, gloomy and nothing like my actually dream location: Rome.

Of course Jared knew I'd hate it in anything opposite Rome so why not Russia?

He had made sure Keith would get the spot in Rome, but if he though he was sly he had another thing coming... Which he did.

I meet a Moroi by the name of Ibrahim "Abe" Mazur. This guy was like the godfather or whatever mafia man he could fall under.

At this time I was only 15 years before my escape to St. Valdimir's by the help of Abe which in turn I was to look about after Rose.

He knew of my revenge and sought to help me out on it. So I basically owed the man in return. At least it better than being in reeducation...

I caught on the words "Guardian" and "Zeklos" by Belikov and tuned in to hear the rest.

"... He was killed recently." His smile dropped, his face grew dark.

"They sent me here because they needed extras on campus. When the princess turned up, they assigned me to her, since I'd already be around. Not that it matters until she leaves campus."

"Did this Zeklos lord die on your watch?" Rose asked.

"No. He was with his other guardian. I was away."

Oh wow...Belikov was silent, his mind obviously somewhere else. But even I could tell the memory haunted and hurt him. Maybe whoever this Zeklos was a close friend of his as well.

Nothing like Jesse.

The Moroi expected a lot from the dhampirs, but they did recognize that the guardians were -more or less like humans.

Guardians got paid and time off like in any other job.

But the fact that the sole purpose of guarding with your life of another Moroi was failed well it hurts and that burden just makes itself a home in you...

"Hey," Rose said, suddenly intending to cheer Bekilov up, "did you help come up with the plan to get us back? Because it was pretty good. Brute force and all that."

He arched an eyebrow curiously.  
"You're complimenting me on that?"

"Well, it was a hell of a lot better than the last one they tried."

"Last one?" I asked curious unknowingly arching my brow as well.

"Yeah. In Chicago. With the pack of psi-hounds."

"This was the first time we found you. In Portland."

Rose sat up from her stretches and crossed her legs. "Um, I don't think I imagined psi-hounds. Who else could have sent them? They only answer to Moroi. Maybe no one told you about it."

"Maybe," he said dismissively.

I could tell by his face he didn't believe what she said about her theory.

Rose and I returned to the novices' dorm after that.  
Moroi students lived on the other side of the quad, closer to the commons. The living arrangements were partly based on convenience.

Here kept us novices closer to the gym and training grounds. But we also lived separately to accommodate the differences in Moroi and dhampir lifestyles.

Their dorm had almost barley any windows, aside from tinted ones that dimmed sunlight. They also had a special section where feeders always stayed on hand.

The novices' dorm was built in a more open way, allowing for more light. Yea because I needed sunlight on my pale skin while I can before winter kicks in.

Rose had perviously her own room because there were so few novices, let alone girls. But once I came by Abe somehow in his ways got me assigned as Rose's roommate.

The room they'd given me was small and plain, with a twin bed and a desk with a computer and my laptop. My few belongings from home I treasured were locked up under the bed in a wooden box.

I could see sealed cardboard boxes around the room. "Whoa how'd there get here?" I asked as I tried to not stumble onto of then.

"Mostly likely my stuff back in Portland, spiritually charmed back here." Rose stated as she rummaged through them, pulling out a T-shirt to sleep in.

I had decided to look in our closet seeing my clothes-neutral and business on one side. In addition to colorful and lively on the other. I pulled open the drawers and took out a fitted black T and stripped sleeping pants.

I turned to see Rose set some pictures on our desk and booted up the computer.

"Thanks Syd." Rose said over to me as she showed the paper in her hand.

"No problem." I responded as I made my way towards my dresser to remove my hair tie and brush out the tangles of my hair.

Someone from tech support had helpfully given me a sheet with instructions for Rose to renewing her e-mail account and setting up a password.

"Love you too, Mom," Rose muttered, shutting the computer down.

"So my best bet is your mom emailed you huh?" I asked as I turned to face her.

"Yea she wrote a "welcome" back letter that ends in my actions inexcusable."

I sent Rose an understandable smile knowing the feeling. We'd in turn got showered and dressed, hitting the bed quickly having sleep sooth over us.

I felt horrible the following morning every possible muscle just ached. "Rose I don't think I can make it though the day today." I declared lying in bed. "Youre telling me I feel ten times worse!"

We laid in bed so more the pain gradually dulling somewhat. "You know I was reconsidered of running away again." Rose spoke a bit later. "But?" I countered in. "But I remembered getting my ass kicked and figured to prevent that happening again was to endure more of it this aches and pains."

"Amen to that."

We both laughed until last nights pains shot through us but we still couldn't help to control our giggles.

Well in just 4 hours, my soreness made it throughout the most of the day.

"You alright Sydney?" I turned to see Eddie question me with concern in his face. Awww he's do sweet and caring!

"Im fine... just Belikov's training is quite errr...fast pace and the aftermath...bearable." I responded before I winched in pain after slinging my bad over my shoulder.

"I warned you Melrose with Belikov, Rose and you will be death." Mason added in as he headed off laughing.

"Not funny Ashford god knows you wouldn't make it for a day!" I shouted after him, then looking at Eddie trying to hold his laughter.

"Damn Sydney you are something. For now I think I should carry your bag before to topple on your side and lose your balance." He ended stretching his hand out as I handed my bag without any protest.

We chatted along the way toward my next class but I couldn't help get distracted by a nagging voice in the back of my head.

Sage this is the perfect time to consider making a move on Eddie..

I complied.

"Hey Eddie I was wondering if you and me could go hang out tonight doing I don't whatever you feel like doing?" I asked hesitantly looking up to see his response.

"Oh uhh sure I wouldn't mind Melrose I'm sure my schedule will be available by tonight." he replied with his cute smile.

"Alright then... dinner and then how about a night walk?"

Mental note plan ahead next time.

" By the way, I know the guardians won't have such heavy patrol where we can't get back to our dorms by then." I concluded as I retrieved my bag back.

"Alright then see you tonight." He responded and head to his class leaving me with a smile as I headed inside class.

"What's got you in a sudden good mood Sydney?" Rose asked me.

"Oh nothing really just that Eddie and I got an outing planned tonight."

"Nothing...Nothing?! Yea right Syd you obviously got this dopey "lovey-dovey" look on your face. You finally stepped up and made a move and I congratulate you for that."

"Oh calm down its not like we're officially going out now."

"Well I can't wait to see THAT day."

"Rose!"

By lunch, Rose dragged Lissa away from Natalie's table early and gave her a "Kirova-worthy" lecture about Christian. She quietly whispered to her about something else. But in the end Lissa had other concerns.

"You were in my head again?" she exclaimed. "For that long?"

"I didn't do it on purpose," Rose argued. "It just happened. And that's not the point. How long did you hang out with him afterward?"

"Not that long. It was kind of…fun."

"See Rose there's nothing to worry about on Christian, you're overreacting." I imputed.

"It doesn't matter, then turning to Lissa "You can't do it again. If people find out you're hanging out with him, they'll crucify you." She eyed her warily. "You aren't, like, into him, are you?"

She scoffed. "No. Of course not.

The way she voice sounded said otherwise.

"Good. Because if you're going to go after a guy, steal Aaron back."

Lissa laughed. "Mia would claw my eyes out."

"We can take her. Besides, he deserves someone who doesn't shop at Gap Kids."

"Seriously Rose, don't say those types of comments." I said.

"I agree. Rose, you've got to stop saying things like that."

"I'm just saying what you won't."

"She's only a year younger," said Lissa. She then laughed. "I can't believe you think I'm the one who's going to get us in trouble."

I nodded in agreement as Rose crossed her arms and huffed.

As we strolled toward class, Rose gave her a sidelong glance. "Aaron does look pretty good though, huh?"

I rolled my eyes and sighed.

Lissa smiled back and avoided Rose's eyes. "Yeah. Pretty good."

"Ooh. You see? You should go after him."

"Whatever. I'm fine being friends now."

"Friends who used to stick their tongues down each other's throats."

That had me shake my head muttering incomprehensible words.

She rolled her eyes.

"Fine." Rose started to conclude."Let Aaron stay in the nursery school. Just so long as you stay away from Christian. He's dangerous."

_How wrong Rose was._

"You're overreacting. He's not going Strigoi."

_Nope and hopefully it'll stay that way as this rate it should with Lissa around him..._

"He's a bad influence."

Lissa laughed. "You think I'm in danger of going Strigoi?"

She didn't wait for Rose's answer, instead pushing ahead to open the door to our science class.

I followed in after seeing royal power in action. It was such a improper site but its not like I expected much.

A few guys - with giggling, watching girls - were messing with a gangly-looking Moroi.

I knew he was poor and certainly not royal.

A couple of his tormentors were air-magic users, and they'd blown the papers off his desk and were pushing them around the room on currents of air while the guy tried to catch them.

My instincts urged me to do something, I wanted to show those Moroi that they can't go around acting like superiors over the rest. Rose seemed to share the same views as me but prevented herself from raising her fists.

So I could only give them a harsh look as I walked to my desk.

As For Rose, a hand caught her arm.

Jesse. Of course I feel like I'm never gonna be able to get out of his sight luckily his focus was only on Rose.

"Hey," She said jokingly. "Hands off the merchandise.

He flashed her a smile but kept his hand on. "Rose, tell Paul about the time you started the fight in Ms. Karp's class."

I cocked my head toward him, while Rose gave him a playful smile. "I started a lot of fights in her class."

"The one with the hermit crab. And the gerbil."

She and I laughed, recalling it.

"Oh yeah. It was a hamster, I think. I just dropped it into the crab's tank, and they were both worked up from being so close to me, so they went at it." She answered.

Paul, sitting nearby chuckled too. He'd transferred last year, and hadn't heard of this. "Who won?"

Rose looked at Jesse quizzically. "I don't remember. Do you?"

"No. I just remember Karp freaking out." He turned toward Paul. "Man, you should have seen this messed-up teacher we used to have. Used to think people were after her and would go off on stuff that didn't make any sense. She was nuts. Used to wander campus while everyone was asleep."

Rose smiled tightly, she didn't find Jesse's funny.

I thought back to Ms. Karp. When I'd come here I'd noticed she would wander around campus when she still worked here. It was creepy and I had run into her...once.

_I'd been reading on a tree branch out in the breezy spring air. It was quite late in the afternoon but it was a weekend as well. I had checked the_ _time and quickly closed my book and trie to manage my way down like I normally did._

_Unexpectedly, a big gust of wind had blow making me loose my footing and fall down crashing on the grass. It wasn't even a soft landing at all, with the twigs and bark scrapping on my hands and knees._

_"Bad luck, Sydney? Do be more careful. Your instructors would have be disappointed."_

_Peering through, And I saw Ms. Karp looking down at me, a bemused look on her face._

_Pain though, shot through every part of my body making my eyes sting out some tears._

_Quickly blinking then away and Ignoring the pain, I clambered to my feet._

_Being in class with Ms. Karp while surrounded by other students was one thing._

_Standing outside alone with her was an entirely different matter. She always had an eerie, distracted gleam in her eye that made me quite insecure about myself._

_"I'm fine Ms. Karp, nothing to worry about Ill head back before anyone can notice my absence." I started to say._

_She just smiled and reached for my hands. I wearily let her take them._

_She tsked when she saw the scrapes. Tightening her grip on them, she frowned slightly._

_Suddenly, a tingle burned my skin, laced with a sort of pleasant buzz, and then the wounds closed up. I had a brief sense of a pleasant daze. The blood disappeared, as did the pain in my hands and knees._

_Gasping, I jerked my hands away. I'd seen a lot of Moroi magic, but never anything like that._

_"What…what did you do?"_

_She gave me that weird smile again. "Go back to your dorm, Sydney. There are bad things out here. You never know what's following you."_

_I was still staring in awe at my hands still trying to figure out what she'd done. "But…"_

_I looked back up at her and for the first time noticed scars on the sides of her forehead. Like nails had dug into them. She winked. "I won't tell on you if you don't tell on me."_

I jumped back to the present, unsettled by the memory of that bizarre night.

Jesse, in the meantime, was telling Rose about a party.

"You've got to slip your leash tonight. We're going up to that spot in the woods around eight thirty. Mark got some weed."

Rose sighed wistfully, "Can't slip that leash. I'm with my Russian jailer."

He let go of Rose's arm, looking disappointed, and ran a hand through his bronze-colored hair.

Being not able to hang out with him was a damned shame wasn't it?

I really would have to fix that someday. "Can't you ever get off for good behavior?" he joked.

Rose gave him a-oh god- seductive smile as she finally found her seat.

"Sure," She called over her shoulder. "If I was ever good."

"You sure wouldn't be Rose Hathaway then." I added in both of us mirroring our smiles.

"Damn right."

**Well that's it for now pretty please comment and review and you get cookies!**


	7. Chapter 5

**A/N: Yea I'm back missed me? ^^ Well schools hectic and I needed some time to work on schoolwork to get my grades up and now scholarships... :p Though for now I can finally update this story and catch up on The Originals later on! Hmm I hope Karoline still happens but from what I see it'll be Klaus and Cami... Alright back to Richelle's world lovelies enjoy and comment! **

**Disclaimer: Richelle** **Mead owns VA/BL**

_Chapter 6_

_Sydney's POV_

LISSA AND Christian's meeting bothered Rose tremendously, which had now turn into an obsession and tried to establish Project "Anti-Chrissa".

_Hmmm thats a nice ring for the pair... _

Anyway I was tempted in suffocating Rose with a pillow the night before until she popped up a bizarre idea.

An idea that made me think the apocalypse was approaching sooner than I would have assumed.

"Hey, Kirova - er, Ms. Kirova." Rose and I were standing in the doorway of Kirova's office -no form of appointment established- but them again this is Rose. Kirova's quickly became suspicious as she raised her eyes from some paperwork, clearly annoyed to see us-well specifically Rose. "Yes, Miss Hathaway?"

"Does my house arrest mean I can't go to church?"

Can you believe it?

"Rose" and "Church" didn't even go in the same sentence at all. It was like tasting vinegar.

"I beg your pardon?" Kirova's tone showed astonishment and bafflement. "You said that whenever I'm not in class or practice, I have to stay in the dorm. But what about church on Sundays? I don't think it's really fair to keep me away from my religious…um, needs."

Oh God help me.

Kirova pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "I wasn't aware you had any religious needs."

"I found Jesus while I was gone."

I covered my laugh with a cough as Rose nudged me in my ribs and Kirova asked "Are you alright Ms. Melrose?" "Oh course I'm alright, I just caught something... unexpected in the air is all." I ended smiling with such innocent as Rose rolled her eyes and mutter something indiscernible.

"Isn't your mother an atheist?" she asked skeptically turning to Rose. "And my dad's probably Muslim. But I've moved on to my own path. You shouldn't keep me from it." Rose stated as if it were a no-brainer.

Kirova covered her snicker. "No, Miss Hathaway, I should not. Very well. You may attend services on Sundays." Well damn that was easier than I would have thought.

We got to sit next to Lissa;Rose on left and me on the right.

The sermons I admit did tend to became a bore here and there knowing I already heard all this while growing up. Another thing to add on my ever growing list. I'm from a _devoutly_ religious family.

Once I drifted away from the priest monotone holy drifting message and wander my glaze around at the rest of the attendance. Church was optional for us students, but with so many Eastern European families, majority of the students were Eastern Orthodox Christians and attended either because they believed or because their parents made them.

I spotted Christian sitting on the opposite side of the aisle, pretending to be intruded by the sermon. It didn't make him evil thought if he's at least trying an effort to step foot in here.

"Following God's path is never easy," the priest was saying. "Even St. Vladimir, this school's own patron saint, had a difficult time. He was so filled with spirit that people often flocked around him, enthralled just to listen and be in his presence. So great was his spirit, the old texts say, that he could heal the sick. Yet despite these gifts, many did not respect him. They mocked him, claiming he was misguided and confused."

I'd heard all about him, many times before as a kid and when I arrived here. Yet even till now it was quite intruding to hear at St. Vladimir and imagine my reaction when I heard he was Moroi.

Vladimir was I suppose... troubled over the course of his years. I'm talking about mentally ill. Everyone knew it. He was a Saint though so I'd expect much pressure from society to be a bother.

"…and so it was with shadow-kissed Anna."

Oh course Anna Porphyrogenita. She was born around March 13, 963 until her tragic suicidal death in 1011. She was St. Vladimir guardian and suppose as quoted "shadow-kissed".

I could practically feel the wheels spinning in my head on the meaning of that word: shadow-kiss. "

I've heard those words countless times yet... What did the word mean?" I muttered to myself pondering as Rose overheard. "You too? I though I was the only one over thinking that word. Lets see if the priest continues on." We waited, hoping he'd continue, but he'd already moved on to the next part of the service.

Damn it. I turned to Rose who shared a knowing look.

Church concluded, and as Lissa turned to go, Rose shook her head at her. "Wait for us. Sydney and I will be right out." We pushed our way through the crowd, up to the front, where the priest was speaking with a few people. Unlike me Rose,waited impatiently while he finished.

Natalie was there, asking him about volunteer work she could do. Rose and I tried not to prevent our burst of laugher from her request. And I thought I was a practically "Saint". When she finished, she left, greeting us as she passed.

The priest raised his eyebrows when he saw us. "Hello, Rose. It's nice to see you again as well as you dear Sydney." "Thank you sir." I responded. "Yeah…you too," Rose said. "I heard you talking about Anna. About how she was 'shadow-kissed.' What does that mean?" He frowned. "I'm not entirely sure. She lived a very long time ago. It was often common to refer to people by titles that reflected some of their traits. It might have been given to make her sound fierce."

Rose disappointment, tugged on. "Oh. So who was she?" This time his frown was disapproving rather than thoughtful. "I mentioned it a number of times." "Oh. I must have, um, missed that." I couldn't help let out a sigh. His disapproval grew and I swore he would have started lecturing, but he turned around. "Wait just a moment."

He disappeared through the door near the altar. Less than a minute later, the priest returned with a book. He handed it to me. Moroi Saints.

"You can learn about her in here. The next time I see you, I'd like to hear what you've learned." That was indicated to Rose. Poor Rose, Homework from the priest. She scowled as we walked away.

In the chapel's entry way, We found Lissa talking to Aaron. She smiled as she spoke, and was clearly happy. her were happy. "You're kidding," she exclaimed. Aaron shook his head. "Nope."

Seeing Rose and I stroll over, she turned to Rose. "Rose, you're never going to believe this. You know Abby Badica? And Xander? Their guardian wants to resign. And marry another guardian."

Now this was actually ok fine I suppose I needed some sort of exciting news. This one was a biggie. "Seriously? Are they, like, going to run off together?" Rose proclaimed. Lissa nodded. "They're getting a house. Going to get jobs with humans, I guess."

I glanced at Aaron, who had suddenly turned shy with Rose there. "How are Abby and Xander dealing with that?" "Okay. Embarrassed. They think it's stupid." Then he realized who he was speaking to. "Oh. I didn't mean - " "Whatever." She gave him a tight smile. "It is stupid."

I was startled. The rogue in my loved the fact that two people "fought a system" they were to believe in but... in this case, they were fighting a system, I've been trained into my recent life which was a necessity and a better offer. Dhampirs and Moroi had a strange arrangement.

Dhampirs had originally been born from Moroi mixing with us humans. Dhampirs couldn't reproduce with each other - or with humans. Some weird genetic loophole malfunction. This only left Dhampirs and full Moroi could have children together, and, by the genetic odds their kids came out as standard dhampirs, with half human genes, half vampire genes.

With Moroi being the only ones with whom dhampirs could reproduce, we were to stay close to them and intermingle with them. So it's important that the Moroi survived. Without them, bye bye Dhampirs. Strigoi loved picking off Moroi, that their survival became a legitimate concern for us all.

That was how the guardian system developed. Dhampirs couldn't work magic, but they made great warriors. They inherited enhanced senses and reflexes from our vampire genes and better strength and endurance from our human genes.

Furthermore, Dhampirs weren't limited by a need for blood or trouble with sunlight. Yes, they weren't as powerful as the Strigoi, but becoming trained really hard, and guardians did a kick-ass job at keeping Moroi safe. Most dhampirs felt it was worth risking their own lives to make sure their kind could still keep having children.

Since Moroi usually wanted to have and raise Moroi children, you didn't find a lot of long-term Moroi-dhampir romances. Actually I knew of one back when I was in Russia as my first mission as an Alchemist.

Anyhow, there especially wasn't a case of a lot of Moroi women hooking up with dhampir guys. But plenty of young Moroi men liked fooling around with dhampir women, although those guys usually went on to marry Moroi women. That left a lot of single dhampir mothers, which they fortunately could handle.

However, many dhampir mothers chose not to become guardians in order to raise their children. These women sometimes worked "regular" jobs with Moroi or humans; some of them lived together in communities.

These communities had bad reputation.

Moroi men indeed visited all the time for sex, and some dhampir women let them drink blood while doing it. Blood whores. Majority of all guardians were men, which meant there were a lot more Moroi than guardians. Most dhampir guys accepted that they wouldn't have kids. They knew it was their job to protect Moroi while their sisters and cousins had babies.

Some dhampir women, like Rose's mother felt it was their duty to become guardians - even if it meant not raising their own kids. After Rose's birth, Guardian Hathaway handed her over to be raised by Moroi. Moroi and dhampirs also started school pretty young.

My small time life at the Academy, I had slowly accepted that a dhampir's job to is protect Moroi. It was part of their heritage, and it was the only way they could keep going.

What the Badicas' guardian had done so shocking. He'd abandoned his Moroi and run off with another guardian, which meant she'd abandoned her Moroi. They couldn't even have children together, and now two families were unprotected. It's pointless and risky. No one cared if teenage dhampirs dated or if adult dhampirs had flings. But a long-term relationship? Particularly one that involved them running away? Completely a waste of a lifetime.

After a little more speculation on the Badicas, Lissa, Rose and I left. Stepped outside, I heard a shifting sound by my left. I looked up and...too late. A pile of slush had slid off the chapel's roof and onto us.

It was early October, and we'd had early snow last night that had started melting almost immediately. As a result, the stuff that fell on us was very wet and very cold. I wore a sour scrunch face and quickly wiped to snow off which head numbing my lips. I wasn't the only one as Lissa took the brunt as well. I heard a cry as icy water landed on Rose's hair and neck.

A few others squealed nearby too, having caught the edge of the mini-avalanche. "You okay?" I asked Lissa. She stood shivering as her coat was drenched, and her platinum hair clung to the sides of her face. "Y-yeah," she said through chattering teeth.

Rose quickly discarded her coat and handed it to her. It had a slick surface and had repelled most of the water. "Take yours off." She said. "But you'll be - " "Take this." Lissa did, and as she slipped on Rose's coat. I had sense laughter that always follows our unexpected situations. I tried to ignore the group of Moroi that I knew all too well as Rose tried to opt on focusing on holding Lissa's wet jacket while Lissa changed.

"Wish you hadn't been wearing a coat, Rose," said Ralf Sarcozy an unusually bulky and plump Moroi. He was another I hated of course on my hit list next to Jesse. "That shirt would have looked good wet."

"That shirt's so ugly it should be burned. Did you get that from a homeless person?" I glanced up as Mia walked over and looped her arm through Aaron's. She glanced at me me quickly with some hesitation and then her posture became cold again. "Same to you Melrose, planning on bailing out again?"

I glared at her and clenched my jaw making her back away a bit. How dare she I knew the double meaning behind her words.

Her curls were arranged precisely, and she had on a pair of black heels that boosted up her height. Aaron had been a few steps behind us but avoided the slush. I glanced at Rose with her mischievous glint in her eyes upon Mia's smug.

Looks like another round of Rinaldi vs Hathaway, but who am I to complain this I really wanted some back lashing on this fiend.

"I suppose you want to offer to burn it, huh?" Rose asked, refusing her to know how her pervious insult bugged her. "Oh, wait - fire isn't your element, is it? You work with water. What a coincidence that a bunch just fell on us." Mia was a actress of course. Acted insulted but gleaming with delight at the current situation. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh nothing towards us of course." I state as I wipe off the remaining slush off my soggy jacket before continuing. "Ms. Kirova in the other hand-I smirked as Mia skin paling- I wouldn't be so sure... What would be of you if she finds out you used magic against other students?" "That wasn't an attack," she scoffed trying to be convincing."And it wasn't me. It was an act of God."

Right as if God hasn't just witness her devious deed...

A few others laughed, much to her delight unfortunately. Rose was close to slamming the door in Mias face but instead, Lissa simply nudged her and said, "Let's go." We walked off toward our respective dorms, leaving behind laughter and jokes about our wet states and how Lissa wouldn't know anything about specialization.

_Mia needs to be taught a lesson... _

What the hell why would I think that?!

I quickly shake my head from that thought. But Lissa shouldn't have to deal with more stress than she has to. We'd been okay this first week, and it should be left that way. Right?

"You know," Rose pipped, "I'm thinking more and more that you stealing Aaron back is a good thing. It'll teach Bitch Doll a lesson. I bet it'd be easy, too. He's still crazy about you." "I don't want to teach anyone a lesson," simply stated Lissa. "And I'm not crazy about him."

"Come on, she picks fights and talks about us behind our backs. She accused me of getting jeans from the Salvation Army yesterday." "

Your jeans are from the Salvation Army." Lissa and I say and laugh. "Well, yeah," Rose snorted looking away a bit, "but she has no right making fun of them when she's wearing stuff from Target."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with Target. I like Target." Lissa defends. "Hey, don't insult the one store that has classy and casual clothing." I say, as Lissa nods. "So do I- look that's not the point. She's trying to pass her stuff off like it's freaking Stella McCartney." Rose exclaims.

"And that's a crime?" I saw with my eyebrow arched up and hands on my hips. Rose solemn faced, "Absolutely. You've gotta take revenge." She ends with her fisted hand over her open palm.

"I told you, I'm not interested in revenge." Lissa cut Rose a sidelong look. "And you shouldn't be either." Rose smiled as innocently as She could, and when me and her parted ways from Lissa.

"So when's the big catfight going to happen?" A boyish voice questioned. Mason stood there waiting for us outside our dorm after the depart from Lissa. He looked lazy and cute, leaning against the wall with crossed arms as he watched us.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean." Rose flatly said trying to brush off the question. He turned to me but I just shrugged and smiled. He unfolded himself and walked with us into the building, handing Rose his coat, since she'd let Lissa go off with hers.

"I saw you guys sparring outside the chapel. Have you no respect for the house of God?" Mason mockingly said with surprise. Rose snorted. "You've got about as much respect for it as I do, you heathen. You didn't even go. Besides, as you said, we were outside." "And you still didn't answer the question." Mason pointed out. He's got a point Rose, come on I think mason will enjoy our tale." I stated dramatically.

She just grinned and slipped on Mason's coat. We stood in the common area of our dorm, a well-supervised lounge and study area where male and female students could mingle, along with Moroi guests. It was Sunday, so a pretty big crowd with those cramming for last-minute assignments due tomorrow. I scanned around and found a small, empty table, I quickly yanked Mason's and Rose's arms and pulled them toward it.

"Whoa Melrose, where's the fire?" Mason asked chuckling a bit. "Better we got the table because I'm not going to constantly stand as we talk." I exclaimed as were reached out destination.

_Hmmm coffee would be nice right now..._

"Aren't you supposed to go straight to your room?" Rose suddenly asked swirling toward Mason. "Nope." He said popping the "p" as the he sat down.

Rose and I popped down in out seats, and she glanced around warily. "There are so many people here today, it'll take them a while to notice me. God, I'm so sick of being locked away. And it's only been a week."

"I'm sick of it too. We missed you last night. A bunch of us went and shot pool in the rec room. Eddie was on fire." Mason said as he leaned back a bit and placed his arms behind his head.

I expected Rose's response.

Rose groaned. "Don't tell me that. I don't want to hear about your glamorous social life." I spotted a coffee machine and my eyes lit up.

"Hey I'll be back I'm grabbing some coffee." I said without waiting for their response. "All right." He propped his elbow up on the table and rested his chin in his hand. "Then tell me about Mia... I quickly got my cup and headed back in time for the next stage of plan I suppose it was.

"In other words, find some way to get back at Mia that you won't get in trouble for." Mason summed up after listen to our story. Rose felt a smile tug at the corners of my lips. "You know what I like about you, Mase? You think just like I do."

"Hey, same for me you guys I was thinking we outta teach Mia a lesson." I ended as I sipped my skinny vanilla bean. "Well now Sydney what else are you hiding underneath your innocent glam hmm? Anyway make it the three of us then!"

"Frightening concept," Mason replied drily. "So tell me what you think of this: I might know something about her, but I probably shouldn't tell you…" Rose leaned forward. "Oh, you already tipped me off. You've got to tell me now."

"Let the Hathaway charm begin." I muttered as I sat back down amused to watch the showdown.

"It'd be wrong," Mason teased. "How do I know you'd use this knowledge for good instead of evil?" Rose- I choked on my drink- batted her eyelashes. "Can you resist this face?" Oh yes she went for the kill.

Mason took a moment to study her. "No. I can't, actually. Okay, here you go: Mia isn't royal." I bit my lip, but listened on what Mason has heard about Mia.

Rose slouched back in her chair. "No kidding. I already knew that. I've known who's royal since I was two." "Yeah, but there's more than just that. Her parents work for one of the Drozdov lords." Rose waved her hand impatiently. "Techniques."

Majority of Moroi worked out in my human world-who were not inspected any further due to the Alchemist tasks. Moroi society thought had plenty of jobs for its own kind which were to be slotted in. "Cleaning stuff. Practically servants. Her dad cuts grass, and her mom's a maid." Mason said as if it were the most shocking news ever.

People everywhere had to do crappy stuff to make a living at some point in their lives. But there came a stage where that someone with an unfortunate lifestyle would do anything to it in with the crowd and become ad someone else they weren't. Mia since my time here has desperately tried to fit in with the school elite.

Wait if Mason knew...

"But no one else knows right?" I injected. "And she doesn't want them to. You know how the royals are." He paused. "Well, except for Lissa, of course. They'd give Mia a hard time over it."

"How do you know all this?" Rose asked thoughtfully. "My uncle's a guardian for the Drozdovs." "And you've just been sitting on this secret, huh?" Rose stated as she peered her eyes. "Until you broke me. So which path will you choose: good or evil?" "I think I'll give her a grace - "

"Miss Hathaway, you know you aren't supposed to be here." A unknown voice broke in to our conversation. One of the dorm matrons stood over us, disapproval all over her face. Luckily Mason had us covered "We have a group project to do for our humanities class. How are we supposed to do it if Rose is in isolation?"

The matron narrowed her eyes. "You don't look like you're doing work." I swiftly slid over the priest's book and opened it at random. I'd placed it on the table when we sat down. "We're working on this." She still looked suspicious at all of us. "One hour. I'll give you one more hour down here, and I'd better actually see you working."

"Yes, ma'am," said Mason straight-faced. "Absolutely." She wandered off, still eyeing us. "My hero," Rose declared. He pointed at the book. "What is this?" "Something the priest gave me. I had a question about the service." Rose said in a rueful tone. He stared at her, astonished.

I snapped my fingers in his face to break his away from his daze.

"Oh, stop it and look interested." Rose declared ad she grabbed the book and skimmed the index. "I'm trying to find some woman named Anna." Mason slid his chair over so that he was sitting right beside her. "All right. Let's 'study.' "

We took turns and eventually I found the page number, which took me to the section on St. Vladimir. We read through the chapter, scanning for Anna's name. When we found it, the author didn't have much to say about her. He did include an excerpt written by some guy who had apparently lived at the same time as St. Vladimir:

"...And with Vladimir always is Anna, the daughter of Fyodor. Their love is as chaste and pure as that of brother and sister, and many times has she defended him from Strigoi who would seek to destroy him and his holiness. Likewise, it is she who comforts him when the spirit becomes too much to bear, and Satan's darkness tries to smother him and weaken his own health and body. This too she defends against, for they have been bound together ever since he saved her life as a child. It is a sign of God's love that He has sent the blessed Vladimir a guardian such as her, one who is shadow-kissed and always knows what is in his heart and mind." I ended looking up at the two.

"There you go," Mason said clapping is hands together. "She was his guardian." "It doesn't say what 'shadow-kissed' means." Rose spoke out thoughtfully. "Probably doesn't mean anything."

"I doubt that..." I muttered as I was skimming through the text again to find some sort of clue to the puzzle Mason watched curiously, looking like he very much wanted to help.

"Maybe they were hooking up," he suggested. "Seriously Mase, he's was a saint." Rose said as she laughed. "So? Saints probably like sex too. That 'brother and sister' stuff is probably a cover." He pointed to one of the lines. "See? They were 'bound' together." He winked. "It's code."

I cringed inwardly as I ignored majority of his critic on the Saint and thought back on that one word.

Bound. It was an unusual word choice, and i bet it referred to something else that I somehow knew that was right within my grasp. Also that didn't necessarily mean Anna and Vladimir were a romantic involvement. Actually now that I remember they were.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but Mason's right."

"He is?"

"I am?"

I pinched my bridge nose, as I answered. " Yeah while besides attending church to hear of St. Vladimir, I read up about him and found out if I'm correct that he was in a marriage with Anne Porphyrogenita. Sorry Rose."

I had surprised them as Mason had his mouth hung ajar and Rose eyes widen before shaking her head. "I never read anything on that where did you get your info at? Guys and girls can just be close friends." she said it pointedly, and Mason gave her a dry look. I decided to let the history of the Saint go knowing I could spill the beans about myself at any moment.

"Oh yeah aren't we friends? I might not know what's in your 'heart and mind.' " Mason put on a fake priceless philosopher's look. "Of course, some might argue that one can never know what's in the heart of a woman - "

"Oh, shut up," Both Rose and I said as she punching him in the arm. "For they are strange and mysterious creatures," he continued in his scholarly voice, "and a man must be a mind reader if he ever wishes to make them happy." Rose started giggling uncontrollably and just shook my head, knowing we could get called out again.

"Well, try to read my mind and stop being such a - " It then clicked in me, just as Rose suddenly stopped laughing and turned to me.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I may."

I pointed at her and then out the entrance door. She nodded.

"Are you going to fill me in or leave me clueless while you speak in code?" Mason injected, but Rose and I were still deep in thought.

Anne Porphyrogenita and St. Valdimir had a bond. This was another thing that astonished me on the Saint I grew up hearing. There were lots of vague stories and myths here I've read about how guardians and Moroi 'used to have bonds.' - But this was the first I'd ever heard of anyone specific that it had happened to besides that of Lissa and Rose. So they aren't the only case.

Mason had noticed our startled reaction. "You two okay? You both look kind of weird." Rose shrugged it off. "Yeah. Fine."

I didn't bother uttering anything as I finished off my coffee.

**A/N: Hey I'm back again, I don't have any excuse of my lack of writing I've just been lazy on updating and all. Ok and I've been reading some other ff of VD/TO mainly Klaroline... Anyway who's looking forward to Divergent! I still haven't read the book... :/**


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